Peninsula Campaign

The Peninsula Campaign (March-July 1862) was a major American Civil War campaign that saw the 115,350-strong Union Army of the Potomac under George B. McClellan land on the Virginia peninsula (between the James and York Rivers) and attempt to launch an offensive on the Confederate capital of Richmond. McClellan's army was landed at Fort Monroe, and the Confederate forces decided to delay the Union advance at Yorktown and Williamsburg as they withdrew from Richmond and the nearby areas. A Union flanking movement at Eltham's Landing failed to prevent a continued Confederate withdrawal, and the two sides would eventually meet at the Battle of Seven Pines from 31 May to 1 June 1862. The Union won a pyrrhic victory over the Confederates, and Robert E. Lee took command of the 100,000-strong Army of Northern Virginia after Joseph E. Johnston was wounded by a shell fragment in the battle. From 25 June to 1 July 1862, Lee's army engaged the Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days Battles, which saw Lee force McClellan to withdraw to the James River despite suffering heavy losses, especially at Malvern Hill. President Abraham Lincoln ordered for the bruised Army of the Potomac to retreat to Washington DC to assist John Pope in his northern Virginia campaign, putting an end to the unsuccessful Peninsula Campaign.